Popular prediction market platform, Polymarket has been blocked and tagged an ‘unauthorized website’ in Romania. The development comes after the Romanian National Office for Gambling (ONJN) announced that Polymarket was carrying out gambling activities in the country without authorization.
According to the ONJN, Polymarket has failed to comply with Romanian laws, which require it to obtain a license for its operations.
Romanian Regulator Declares Polymarket’s Activities as Gambling
Speaking on the development, ONJN President, Vlad-Cristian Soare, insists the decision to ban Polymarket was a matter of law. He maintains that Romanian law requires entities offering betting services to obtain a license.
Soare stated that the law does not discriminate nor favor one asset class over the other. “Regardless of whether you bet in lei or crypto, we are talking about gambling,” he emphasized.
The ONJN President maintains that although Polymarket is often described as an ‘event trading platform,’ its activities indicate counterparty betting. He noted that users of Polymarket stake against one another on a future event whose outcome is uncertain.
In the Romanian National Office for Gambling opinion, this constitutes gambling. As such, Polymarket must comply with the law.
Polymarket’s Massive Spike in Local Betting Activity
The Romanian regulatory body stressed that it would not accept a counterparty betting system being labelled ‘trading’ just to bypass it. It described that as a dangerous precedent to set in the country.
Worth mentioning is the fact that Polymarket recently carried out a series of predictions on Romanian local elections. As per the ONJN, local residents staked over $600 million on the presidential election in May.
Meanwhile, an estimated $15 million was also placed as a bet on the local elections in Bucharest over who would become the next mayor of the city.
European Regulators Tighten Scrutiny on Polymarket
Romania is not the only European country cracking down on Polymarket. Notably, in 2024 Polymarket was mandated to block French users from placing bets on the platform. Similarly, Belgium has declared Polymarket illegal since February 2025.
In January 2025, Thailand also stepped up plans to ban Polymarket over what it described as illegal gambling activities.
Recently, Polymarket has recorded a massive surge in the volume of bets on whether U.S. President Donald Trump will pardon Sam Bankman-Fried. The bets have climbed to over $6.5 million as at the last tracking.